Trusting Hope
by Amythest Loring Lee (2018)

   I opened my green eyes. “Welcome to the nightly news,” the TV blared through the quiet house. My eyes flickered from the TV to my father, Darwin, who was walking in and out of his shed every few minutes. The forty-year-old was always working on something in there. My concern spiked because many of his “inventions” were failures, but this one seemed to be going well enough by his bee-like behavior. I hated seeing him fail.

   I turned back to the TV to find more coverage of the riots in the Shallows - a poor, almost fossilized neighborhood damned to a horrible life in the dark. People in rags were tearing Breakers into pieces. Breakers were the androids that maintained order in the country. I watched as the blue arms and heads of these robots flew across the screen while the news anchor spoke about the riots. “The riots only seem to be becoming more violent in recent days,” she frowned as poorly painted signs with messages of “Corruption” and “Evil Androids” danced across the screen. The shot changed to Breakers picking up the scattered pieces of other Breakers as the rioters retreated. “Nexton’s outer circle grows more restless as the population grows smaller, diminishing rapidly. Though the Shallows are the outer, smaller ring, the stress of a dying population haunts us all.”

   “Hello,” the house beeped in greeting as Darwin entered with a huge grin on his face. His light brown hair was disheveled and grease smudges decorated his face, but his bright expression seemed to outshine any flaw he might have. He gives me a big kiss on top of my head of curly, red hair before explaining his excitement. 

   “It actually works! It’s functional, Athea,” he shouted happily, “You have to come witness this!” Gathering myself to my feet, I gently stretched my lean body then quickly followed the eager man to his uncomfortable, ancient hideout. The shed was made of rotting wood as if it was from the Shallows. The first thing that captured my eye was a Breaker except this one was white, not blue. “I can’t help but marvel in its beauty,” Darwin hummed, but I was not amused.

   There were times when I questioned my father’s sanity, but this took the cake. I combed my fair-skinned hand through my tight curls with a frown, “Dad, are you nuts?”

“A little bit,” Darwin chuckled.

“No, Dad, this is not hilarious. This is dangerous. Where did you get it?” 

   The man shrugged and walked over to the Breaker, “Scraps in the Shallows." I was more than furious at this point. In the thirteen years, I had lived with him, he had never done something so reckless.

   I was six when The Nursery — the place babies where born and cared for before being assigned — appointed me to Darwin, who was nervous and very young. He always worried about me, but nowadays I think I worry more about him than vice versa. That’s the only reason I stick around anymore.

“His name is Remeny,” Darwin spoke softly, breaking me from my thoughts. He was wistfully staring while turning the thing on.

“Don’t name it. It’s not alive,” I sighed impatiently, folding my arms. Before any more could be said about the topic, a violent crash echoed from the house.

   My father looked through a small window, cursing under his breath as blue lights flashed from the front of the white house. “Hide, Athea,” Darwin pushed, forcing me into a secret room below the floorboards with the white Breaker. Frightened, I tried to argue but Darwin wouldn’t listen to my urgent pleas. My green eyes watched through the one-way ceiling as the overhead panel was sealed and the blue Breakers broke in, striking my father to the ground harshly. I yelled and screamed as they forcibly took a battered Darwin away.

   “Danger detected,” the thing finally spoke, lighting up. I cowered in fear as it grabbed me, pulling me towards it. It opened the front of its body and seemed to wrap me inside like a suit of armor. I was tightly secured just as a deafening explosion boomed above, pushing the robot to its knees as parts of the ceiling fell with me inside it. “You are safe now,” its voice echoed around me as everything went dark. 

**********

   A slow constant beeping awoke me. “Rebooting,” the screen in front of me displayed. I was still stuck inside of the android from the looks of it. The screen flickered before displaying the view of rusted parts. “Hello, I am Remeny,” the thing spoke. 

“Where am I?” I croaked. I had to still be underneath the shed. 

   “According to my GPS, we are in the Nexton Landfill,” it beeped in response. I looked around seeing the old parts from androids, cars, and other things. The Landfill was located underneath the Shallows, the outer ring on Nexton. Why am I here? I stood, the suit moving with me. 

   I tilted my head down, seeing my hands were still in the suit. Anger boiled. This thing was why my father was taken away. “Let me out now,” I commanded. A beep answers my demand and with a click, the front of the thing opened. I scrambled out as fresh, new tears fell. “This is all of your fault!” I screamed. The droid only stared back. “Where’s my dad?” I still only received an empty look. I kicked a rusted android head across the site as I curse the droid, “You stupid piece of-” My sentence was cut short by the ground shaking. 

   “Danger Detected,” the droid said as the floor dropped beneath me. I screamed as I fell through the air. “Athea,” it called calmly, reaching towards me. 

   “Remeny!” I called as I grabbed its hand and it pulled me into itself once again. We grabbed the wall of the tube we were falling down. Scraping noises echoed around us as we screeched to a halt. We dropped to the ground as the parts settled. The metal clanked around as we moved for hopefully an exit. “I’m sorry for being mad, Remeny,” I said aloud, “I mean I know that you wouldn’t understand me, but I am.”

“I accept your apology,” Remeny responded back, surprising me.

“Wait you understand?” 

   “Of course. Darwin gave me thousands of hours of data on humankind,” he beeped, “I detect light ahead.” We looked up to see the end of the tube. Climbing out, we found ourselves outside of Nexton. The words “Scanning” appeared in front of me. “There are no signs of life,” Remeny eventually confirmed. 

   “Yeah, no shit,” I rolled my eyes, “The air is toxic out here.” We looked around at the dry, empty desert filled with trash from the Landfill. We started the walk towards Nexton Dome. Getting to the down was easy but getting in was tougher. Then we heard it: Scouters. Scouters were android scavengers that ventured outside the dome to retrieve supplies for the city along with samples to find ways to fix our world. 

   We fell in line with the cart they were leading and grabbed a cover from it. We covered ourselves looking similar to the other droids. We walked silently into the city, stopping to be air-sprayed of the toxins of the outside. A slogan on the back of one of the covers caught our attention: “Long live the unlived!” Maybe it was something from eras before. 

“Darwin must be in the Barracks nearby,” Remeny notified, “I’m detecting his life signature.”

   As soon as we were in, to our left, we saw the Barracks, the place they keep human soldiers and charge the Breakers that watch over the Shallows. People ran and cowered in fear as we cut through the streets towards the Barracks. It was simple until something hit the back of our head. An alert popped up in front of me that the panel to our cords was knocked off. More things were thrown and shouting began. We looked around at the hate and fear of these people. We quickly rushed to the Barracks where my father was. Darwin had to be here. We easily snuck in through a window. It was odd that there were no sensors to trip as we crept down deeper into danger. By the third floor down, we saw a room full of cells. We rushed down the isles of cells until the fifth row, the sixth one down on our right.

   There he was my dad. Darwin sat dirty and bruised in a small, empty cell. We reached for the bars bending them open. “Remeny?” he whispered looking at us. We shook our heads, raising a finger to our lips. 

“Shh,” I winked as the helmet opened. The joy on my father’s face gave me the chance to release a breath I’ve been holding for so long. “Dad?” I cried as I stepped out of Remeny. 

“Athea,” Darwin said, breathless. I felt like forever, though it only has been a day. I missed my dad. I needed my rock. Remeny chirped something coherently. Standing completely still, Remeny seemed to shut down. “Don’t worry,” Darwin started, “Remeny just needs to charge.” I smile at Remeny then my father.

Before I could give him a hug, I heard Remeny click and make a noise like an old camera warming up. “Remeny?” I questioned as I turned to see his glowing blue hand aimed at Darwin. “Remeny,” my voice broke with fear. The blast was so deafening, I couldn’t even hear my screams as my father fell to the floor. This couldn’t be real. I was in shock when that thing turned its sights on me. But instead of allowing this thing to win, I charged at it. I screamed as I ran, grabbing the arm. I growled as I pushed the thing to the cell wall and forced the arm towards itself. It struggled against me, but that only made me angrier. It grabbed at my throat as I grabbed at its cords exposed behind its head. I ripped at them until it dropped me. I grabbed the arm cannon again. I pushed with all my might until… Its hand was blue and the sounds tried to reach my ears, but I refused to listen anymore. The blast sent me back as the thing lit aflame and melted away; its chest was a hollow hole. I sat as I tried to catch my breath. Soldiers marched down with the Breakers while I sat motionless between love and hope. Why do they sound perfect together? Nothing (living or not) is supposed to be perfect. How did I expect to have it? How did I think I could live with love and hope in harmony? How could something so complex yet constant coexist with a thing so enticing yet dangerous? This is what I thought of as everything moved so slowly. I asked myself these questions as my soul crumbled beneath the weight of reality. I watched the dust settle on the raised guns as I suffocated with heartache.